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News Release: W3C Launches Mobile Web Initiative

12 May, 2005 10:45

<p>Today, Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and WWW inventor, announced the start of the Mobile Web initiatve; a new W3C effort aimed at improving the quality of the Web experience for Mobile devices. "MWI recognizes the mobile device as a first class participant of the Web," explained Berners-Lee in his opening Keynote at the WWW2005 Conference in Chiba, Japan. Founding sponsors include France Telecom, HP, MobileAware, Segala M Test, Vodafone and Volantis.</p><p>For more information, please contact Janet Daly, janet@w3.org, +1 617253 5884.</p><p>W3C Launches "Mobile Web Initiative"Industry Leaders Join Effort to Improve Mobile Web User Experience</p><p>Web Resources</p><p>This press releaseIn English: http://www.w3.org/2005/05/mwi-pressrelease.html.enIn French: http://www.w3.org/2005/05/mwi-pressrelease.html.frIn Japanese: http://www.w3.org/2005/05/mwi-pressrelease.html.ja</p><p>Testimonials from MWI Founding sponsors:http://www.w3.org/2005/05/mwi-testimonials</p><p>W3C's Mobile Web Initiative:http://www.w3.org/2005/MWI/</p><p>Chiba, Japan -- 11 May 2005 -- Today, at the WWW2005 Conference, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced the launch of the Mobile Web Initiative (MWI) - an endeavor to make Web access from a mobile device as simple, easy, and convenient as Web access from a desktop device.</p><p>"Mobile access to the Web has been a second class experience for far too long," explained Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. "MWI recognizes the mobile device as a first class participant, and will produce materialsto help developers make the mobile Web experience worthwhile. "</p><p>Potential of Mobile Devices on the Web Not Yet Realized</p><p>Many of today's mobile devices already feature Web browsers and thedemand for mobile devices continues to grow. Despite these trends,browsing the Web from a mobile device -- for example, to find productinformation, consult timetables, check email, transfer money -- has notbecome as convenient as expected. Users often find that their favoriteWeb sites are not accessible or not as easy to use on their mobile phone as on their desktop computer. Content providers have difficultiesbuilding Web sites that work well on all types and configurations ofmobile phones offering Web access.</p><p>W3C has launched the Mobile Web Initiative to make browsing the Web from mobile devices a reality.</p><p>W3C Takes Action to Accelerate and Improve Mobile Web Experience</p><p>Mobile Web Initiative participants will initially focus on two areas:best practices and mobile device descriptions. The Mobile Web BestPractices Working Group is chartered to develop authoring guidelines,checklists and best practices to help content providers to develop Webcontent that works well on mobile devices. The Device DescriptionWorking Group is chartered to address the development of improved device description solutions, that is, a database of descriptions that can be used by content authors to adapt their content to a particular device.</p><p>W3C is already active in the mobile Web space, developing Web standards for multimodal interaction and device-independent design, as well as profiles for mobile devices; related standards include XHTML, SVG Mobile Profiles, and the SMIL Basic Profile. MWI work will complement these current efforts.</p><p>Sponsors, Participants Include Industry Leaders in Mobile and WebTechnologies</p><p>W3C Members France Telecom, HP, MobileAware, Segala M Test, Vodafone, and Volantis have stepped forward as Founding Sponsors of the Mobile Web Initiative. MWI Founding Sponsors enjoy unique benefits, including a seat on the MWI Steering Committee, the group that will set the direction of the MWI and propose new work. All W3C Members are eligible to become MWI Founding Sponsors until 1 July 2005.</p><p>Efforts to Be Coordinated with Relevant Organizations</p><p>The MWI is chartered to establish cooperative ties with related groups,including the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and 3GPP. These ties will helpensure that the needs of users are well-defined and that the efforts ofthe MWI and these related groups are complementary.</p><p>Testimonials from HP, MobileAware, Vodafone and Volantis</p><p>HP has been a strong supporter of the W3C for the past decade. Weare firmly committed to the goal of building robust platforms based onopen standards and are pleased to be a founding supporter of this Mobile Web Initiative. We believe the MWI will accelerate the development of rich media content services and will be a catalyst for the next generation of engaging communications experiences. MWI will cause the creation and adoption of a merged set of technologies for today's fixed and mobile content systems and delivery platforms. This is an essential step in the evolution of the World Wide Web. We expect to see a rapid innovation cycle based on MWI contributions to the convergence of fixed and mobile domains.-- Evan Smouse, Director of Strategic Technology, Hewlett-Packard</p><p>MobileAware, as a sponsor of the Mobile Web Initiative and leadinginnovator in mobile business solutions, welcomes the launch of thisInitiative by the W3C. This reflects an important moment in theevolution of the Web. It brings together the key mobile players in aforum where expertise and experience can be shared; ultimately leading to a Web that spans the globe for everyone on any Web-enabled device. MobileAware is proud to be invited to be part of this significant initiative and commends the W3C for its vision.-- Kevin McCloskey, Chief Executive Officer, MobileAware</p><p>Vodafone welcomes this initiative from the W3C to bring thebenefits of the Web to mobile phone customers. Vodafone is pleased to bea founding sponsor and are committed to the success of platforms basedon open standards. We hope the outputs of the Mobile Web Initiative willhelp enable our 150 million customers access a diversity of valuableservices.-- Reinhard Kreft, Director Industry Relations, Vodafone</p><p>As a leading supplier of Intelligent Content Adaptation solutionsto the mobile industry, Volantis is delighted to see the launch of theW3C Mobile Web Initiative. The initiative recognizes the rapidlyincreasing importance of access to the web from mobile devices. Volantis looks forward to participating in the new initiative, an activity which complements its existing, closely-related work within the DeviceIndependence Working Group.-- Mark Watson, Chief Technology Officer, Volantis Systems Ltd.</p><p>Contact Americas and Australia --Janet Daly, <janet>, +1.617.253.5884Contact Europe, Africa and Middle East --Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf>, +33.492.38.75.94 or +81 90 12 08 04 57Contact Asia --Yasuyuki Hirakawa <chibao>, +81.466.49.1170</chibao></mcf></janet></p><p>About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]</p><p>The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by developingcommon protocols that promote its evolution and ensure itsinteroperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly runby the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory(CSAIL) in the USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered in France and Keio University in Japan. Services provided by the Consortium include: a repository ofinformation about the World Wide Web for developers and users, andvarious prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of newtechnology. More than 350 organizations are Members of W3C. To learnmore, see http://www.w3.org/</p><p>--</p><p>World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)</p><p>Janet Daly, Global Communications OfficerMIT/CSAIL, Building 32-G51832 Vassar StreetCambridge, MA 02139</p><p>voice: 617.253.5884fax: 617.258.5999http://www.w3.org/janet@w3.org</p>

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